Phishing: Prevention Methods

“We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. To ensure that your account is not compromised, please click the link below and confirm your identity.”

“During our regular verification of accounts, we couldn’t verify your information. Please click here to update and verify your information.”

Have you received email with a similar message? It’s a scam called “phishing” — and it involves Internet fraudsters who send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal information (credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security number, passwords, or other sensitive information) from unsuspecting victims. So it is extremely important for everyone to have some knowledges in order to protect themselves from phishing scams. The followings are the suggested method that can be employed:


If you get an email that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply
Legitimate companies don’t ask for information via email. If you are concerned about your account, contact the organization mentioned in the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open a new Internet browser session and type in the company’s correct Web address yourself. In any case, don’t cut and paste the link from the message into your Internet browser — phishers can make links look like they go to one place, but that actually send you to a different site.


Never enter your personal information in a pop-up screen.
Sometimes a phisher will direct you to a real company’s, organization’s, or agency’s Web site, but then an unauthorized pop-up screen created by the scammer will appear, with blanks in which to provide your personal information. If you fill it in, your information will go to the phisher. Legitimate companies, agencies and organizations don’t ask for personal information via pop-up screens. Install pop-up blocking software to help prevent this type of phishing attack.

Do not click on links within emails that ask for your personal information.
Fraudsters use these links to lure people to phony Web sites that looks just like the real sites of the company, organization, or agency they’re impersonating. If you follow the instructions and enter your personal information on the Web site, you’ll deliver it directly into the hands of identity thieves. To check whether the message is really from the company or agency, call it directly or go to its Web site.


Area codes can be misleading
Some scammers send an email that appears to be from a legitimate business and ask you to call a phone number to update your account or access a “refund.” Because they use Voice Over Internet Protocol technology, the area code you call does not reflect where the scammers really are. If you need to reach an organization you do business with, call the number on your financial statements or on the back of your credit card. In any case, delete random emails that ask you to confirm or divulge your financial information.


Protect your computer with spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a firewall, and keep them up to date.
A spam filter can help reduce the number of phishing emails you get. Anti-virus software, which scans incoming messages for troublesome files, and anti-spyware software, which looks for programs that have been installed on your computer and track your online activities without your knowledge, can protect you against pharming and other techniques that phishers use. Firewalls prevent hackers and unauthorized communications from entering your computer – which is especially important if you have a broadband connection because your computer is open to the Internet whenever it’s turned on. Look for programs that offer automatic updates and take advantage of free patches that manufacturers offer to fix newly discovered problems.

Watch out for “phishy” emails.
The most common form of phishing is emails pretending to be from a legitimate retailer, bank, organization, or government agency. The sender asks to “confirm” your personal information for some made-up reason: your account is about to be closed, an order for something has been placed in your name, or your information has been lost because of a computer problem. Another tactic phishers use is to say they’re from the fraud departments of well-known companies and ask to verify your information because they suspect you may be a victim of identity theft! In one case, a phisher claimed to be from a state lottery commission and requested people’s banking information to deposit their “winnings” in their accounts.


Only open email attachments if you’re expecting them and know what they contain.
Even if the messages look like they came from people you know, they could be from scammers and contain programs that will steal your personal information. So be extra careful, if you are expecting someone to send you something and you received it, call that person to confirm the mail is from him or her.

Do not e-mail personal or financial information.
E-mail is not a secure method of transmitting personla information. If you initiate a transaction and want to provide your personal or financial information through an organization's website, look for indicators that the site is secured, lik a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a URL for a website that begins with "https://" (the "s" stands for "secure").


If someone contacts you and says you’ve been a victim of fraud, verify the person’s identity before you provide any personal information.
Legitimate credit card issuers and other companies may contact you if there is an unusual pattern indicating that someone else might be using one of your accounts. But usually they only ask if you made particular transactions; they don’t request your account number or other personal information. Law enforcement agencies might also contact you if you’ve been the victim of fraud. To be on the safe side, ask for the person’s name, the name of the agency or company, the telephone number, and the address. Get the main number from the phone book, the Internet, or directory assistance, then call to find out if the person is legitimate.


Job seekers should also be cautios.
Some phishers target people who list themselves on job search sites. Pretending to be potential employers, they ask for your social security number and other personal information. Follow the advice above and verify the person’s identity before providing any personal information.


Be suspicious if someone contacts you unexpectedly and asks for your personal information.
It’s hard to tell whether something is legitimate by looking at an email or a Web site, or talking to someone on the phone. But if you’re contacted out of the blue and asked for your personal information, it’s a warning sign that something is “phishy.” Legitimate companies and agencies don’t operate that way.









As a conclusion, the acts of phishing aims to trick and mislead users in order to make them provide personal informations so that attackers will be able to rip advantage out of them. Thus, it is extraordinarily important for everyone to be cautios, filter and identify phishing e-mails, websites and pop-ups so that they won't end up being victims for nothing.